1. Field of the Invention
The invention is to a multipurpose reversible cutting means for use on rotary power drives. Power driven vehicles and hand-held devices are in common use for driving cutting blades used for earth working, harvesting, trimming, mulching, rooting and other functions. One problem encountered with the prior cutting blades is their limited use. A different blade must be purchased, stored and maintained for each function performed. This results in an expensive inventory of blades that are frequently misplaced and misused. The invention overcomes the above-mentioned problems by providing a cutting means that can perform several different cutting functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural vehicles have employed various type blades for weeding, digging-up root crops, removing tops, cutting crops and vegetation, etc., for a century or more. The cutting blades have been used individually and in parallel and tandem configurations. More recent trends have been to provide small powered vehicles and hand-held power driven devices with cutting blades for yard and garden use. Tillers and weeders are examples of the two most commonly used. It has been proposed that these devices be made convertible for different uses, U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,675 issued Sept. 1, 1981 to L. Tuggle and U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,332 issued Feb. 26, 1985 to R. Straayer are examples of converting string cutters to blade cutters.
Elongated bar and disk type cutters are popular and right angle cutting blades have been used, U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,682 issued Sept. 5, 1989 to T. Walt et al and U.S. Pat. No. 1,025,693 issued May 7, 1912 to C. Franklin and, U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,369 issued June 23, 1959 to E. Rietz. Elongated bar and disk type cutters with bent blades having a cutting edge offset from and parallel to the bar or disk on one or both sides of the disk support have also been used, U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,944 issued Apr. 5, 1966 to E. Michaud, U.S. Pat. No. 2,312,569 issued Mar. 2, 1943 to J. Maga, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,565 issued July 28, 1981 to C. van der Lely. Having both right angle cutting blades and offset parallel blades on the same side of the disk has also been provided by U.S. Pat. No. 2.745,331 issued May 15, 1956 to L. Lancour. Different blade configurations on opposite sides of a disk have been patented as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,159 issued Sept. 8, 1953 to J. Rountree and U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,173 issued Dec. 29, 1987 to J. Anderson. It is also known that different blade shapes on opposite sides of a rotary support can be reversed for different cutting characteristics as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,697 issued Mar. 12, 1963 to D. Mauro. None of these patents individually or collectively teach or make obvious the multipurpose cutting means with plural uses as taught by the present invention. The prior art does not teach different type cutting blades on either side of an elongated support for individually performing different cutting functions by reversal of the side the blade is supported on, nor different shaped blades on the same side of an elongated support for different cutting characteristics by blade rotation reversal, nor different shaped cutting blades on either side of an elongated support cooperating for material discharge, nor different shaped blades on either side of an elongated support assisting in material discharge while simultaneously performing different cutting functions.